Pin spotter and pins game device



July 6, 1965 H. PEDERSEN PIN SPQTTER AND PINS GAME DEVIGE Filed April 3. 1961 July 6, 1965 H. PEDERSEN PIN SPOTTER AND PINS GAME DEVICE Filed April s. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. @L far/avute@ United States Patent O 3,193,289 PIN SPTTER AND PINS GAME DEVHCE Holger Pedersen, 4736 N. Winchester, Chicago 40, ill. Filed Apr. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 100,164 2 Claims. (Ci. 273-42) This invention relates to amusement devices and more specically to a miniature bowling game.

Various simulations of bowling games have been made. In general these have been cheaply fashioned and do not in the least provide a close enough reality to the game to stimulate adult interest. Miniaturization of itself does not suggest participation.

With these deciencies in mind, the invention contemplates the provision of novel improvisations which enhance the game without radically changing its basic concepts.

The invention comprehends the provision of a novel pin spotter having a novel interlock with the alley such that the pin spotter may be readily mounted upon and removed from the alley.

Another object of the invention is to provide an alley structure which incorporates a shock absorbing backstop for the ball and pins, the backstop having a forward nonrnetallic panel and a rear metal plate, the panel and plate being held pendulously lightly together by embracing legs of a torsion spring from a common transverse hinge shaft mounted across the side panels of the pinreceiving bay at the rear end of the alley.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel arrangement of the backstop such that it divides the rear of the .alley into a bay and is swingable upwardly away from a pin tray therebehind to facilitate an operator reaching under the backstop to clear the downed pins and rake them into the tray.

A further object is to provide a novel guide and support structure for the pin setter from the side walls of the alley one of which also forms an elevated runway for the ball return which terminates at the player end of the alley in an upwardly inclined retarder ramp which merges into a receiver rack.

A still further object of the invention is to devise a novel and eliicient pin setting mechanism which comprises a pair of superposed templets in the form of apertured panels, the upper panel having its pin-receiving apertures offset from the corresponding apertures in the lower panel which are arranged in a pin locating arrangement, and the lower panel having inclined ramps upon which the pins are adapted to be laid in a downwardly sloping position and the apertures in the upper plate being arranged to admit the pins in partially prone position and having back edges and side edges which confine the pin which is nested in the aperture on the ramp, the edges serving to guide and move the pin down the ramp into an associated vertical opening in the lower panel whereupon the pin drops through the vertical opening onto the playing surface of the alley therebeneath.

A further object is to devise a novel pin spotter which easily sets the pins and which may be lowered and elevated with respect to the pins upon the alley without disturbing their setting.

These and other objects and advantages inherent in and encompassed by the invention will become more readily apparent from the specification and the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a broken apart plan view of the novel alley;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational View of the structure shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section taken essentially on line 3--3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 4;*4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a portion of the alley and pin setter shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a longitudinal sectional view comparable to FIGURE 3 illustrating the pin set position and partial elevation in phantom of the setting mechanism; and

FIGURE 7 illustrates in longitudinal section similar to FiGURE 6 a modified form of the pin setting mecha msm,

escrz'pton of FIGURES 1 6 Describing the invention in detail the game or recreational device generally designated 2 comprises an alley 3 having a run-up area 4 which is divided from the runway 5 by a foul guard d in the form of an inverted U- shaped stop having a transverse upper bight 7 and dependent legs 8 which are impaled into the flooring 9 in the area 4. The legs 8 are in advance of and in alignment with the gutters 10 which dank the playing area 5. The gutters open into a bay 11 at the rear end 12 of the alley. The .bay 11 is formed by vertical extensions 13, i3 of the longitudinal vertical side walls 14, 14 of the unit 3 and by a transverse vertical backstop 15 which is mounted along its upper edge on a hinge pin or shaft 16 extendinc7 normal to the extensions 13 adjacent to their upper edges at substantial elevation above the plane of the playing area. The shaft 16 mounts a pair of axially spaced hinges 17, 17 which are connected to the upper portion of an inertia mass in the form of a heavy, flat, vertical metal plate 18 which has its upper edge 20 along the underside of shaft 16 and its lower edge 21 adjacent to but slightly spaced from the bottom 22 of the bay which is depressed below the plane of the playing area 5. The

lateral edges 23, 23 of the plate 18 oppose and are closely spaced from the respective extensions 13. The front or forward side of the backstop comprises a Masonite or plastic or other nonmetallic panel 24 which is preferably codirnensional with plate 18 and is held thereagainst by a torsion spring 2S which has its coil loop 26 sleeved about shaft 16 and its legs 27 and 28 embracing the panels 18 and 24, through a fabric-plastic or leather facing 29.

The extensions 13, 13 are provided rearwardly of the backstop 15 with inwardly projecting vertical abutments 3G, Sti which are faced with cushion pads 31, 31 in opposing and engaging relation with the back side of the backstop 15 adjacent to its lateral edges. Thus when a ball 33 is hurled against the backstop the front ilap 24 swings against the heavy plate 18 which resists rearward movement and partially absorbs the blow. Any force which transcends this action swings the backstop against the cushions which reacting against their supporting abut ments further absorb the shock. l

A feature of this invention is in the provision of a pin tray 35 rearwardly of the backstop 15 and as a continuation of the alley structure in that the side walls 14 as well as the bottom wall 22 continue rearwardly beyond the backstop 15 and merge with an upwardly and rearwardly inclined back Wall 36 which in providing a diagonal surface area facilitates scooping out of the pins 37 by the players who reach beneath the backstop into the bay by swinging the backstop upwardly and forwardly to retrieve any downed pins whereupon by raking the pins rearwardly into the tray the players hand is removed accommodating the backstop to swing gravitationally downwardly to operative position.

The interiors of the extensions 13, 13 are lined with combination pin rack or spotter guide and support means 39, 39 each being in the form of an embossed U-shaped bracket having a pair of upright portions 40, 40 defining a vertical slot 40 with opposing substantially parallel generally vertical intermediate and lower margins 41, 41

which flare into upwardly diverging upper ezl ges 42, 42

47 which have rear end portions projecting rearwardly beyond the body 4S of the mechanism and fasten to the shaft 43 substantially medially between its ends. The

rear end portions of the side members 47 form feet t' which extend below the bottom side 51 of the body 48 and have flat horizontal lower edges 52 which seat upon the support surface 52 of anysupport.

The body portion 48 is set substantially medially between the effective top and bottom edges of the V,side members and spaced above the alley surface and is joined along its lateral sides with the side members. The frontend 53 of the body 48 is provided with a dependent rest 54 which seats at its lower edge S5 upon the surface 5 and with the shaft 43 supports the body 48 in a substantially level position. The body is provided with ten vertical cylindricalA openings 56 arranged in a triangular pattern following a typical bowling arrangement withV one ypin in front at the apex, two behind, three behind those and four behindvthose. "The upper side 57 of the body is notched behind each hole to provide a rearwardly and upwardly sloping ramp 58 which leads at its forward lower discharge end into the associated opening 56.

As best seen in FIGURE 3, the ramp or guide trough 58 admits -an intermediate cylindrical profile 59 of the lower end portion 69 of pin 37, said portion'tl having a downwardly tapered lower end portion 61 below section 59 and an upwardly tapered upper end part 62 aboveV portion 59, the section 62 merging into a cylindrical upper stem portion 63 which is of approximatelyrthe diameter of the upper end of part62. f

In the receiving position of the set-up mechanism the pins are set onto respective ramps and incline upwardly and rearwardly with the conical bottom portion 61 entered into a narrowed forward end slot portion 64 of an associated slot 6' in the plate portion 66 of the actuator generally designated 67. l

The slot portion 64 merges into a widened slot portion 68 which has vertical side margins 69, 69 closely embracing the cylindrical part 59 in guiding engagement therewith. The slot portion 64 is dened by an arcuate r-ear margin 79 which is contoured to admit the upper portion 62 of theV lower end part 60, portion 62 bearing as at '71 intermediate its ends against the upper surface 72 of the actuator plate 66. Thus it will be readily apparent that the openings in the actuator plate and the openings in the base are horizontally offset and that actuation of the plate 66 forwardly advances the pins therewith while vertically aligning the openings 56, 65. The fiat base A73 Vof the pin extends below the plate andV is entered into the upper part of the associated opening 56 and upon forward movement by the actuator, the pin slides olf the associated incline 58 and tends to right itself and drops through the opening 56 onto the playing `irface 5. Y Y The plate 66 is slidable upon the top surface 57 of the body portion 48 and is guided along its lateral edges between the side members 47, 47'. The member 66 is held vagainst the body portion by the 'heads 75 of screws 76 which extend through elongated slots 77 in plate 66 and are-screwed into the base 48. Y

The plate 66 is biased to retracted position by a pair of tension springs 73, 7d which lay within longitudinal grooves 79, 79 in the base adjacent to the side members 47, 47,. each spring having one end hooked to a fixed anchorscrew Sd located in the associated groove 79 and into the base 48 adjacent to its rear extremity 81 and the other end of the spring being secured to an anchor screw 82 secured to the plate 66 and projecting into the related groove 79 adjacent to the forward end 53 of the body.

In order to condition the apparatus for play, the bottom 22 of the alley structure is provided with leveling bolts 84 which are threaded into the bottom 22 along the lateral edges thereof to level the playing surface. The pin spotting tray is located upon the alley by inserting the ends of the cross shaft 43 into the slots riti of the guides 39 and lowering the tray until bottomed and rest 54 sits upon surface 5. The pins are then inserted upon the ramps 58 as seen Vin FIGURES 3 yand 5. Then the actuator 66 is moved forwardly manually by the operators linger 85 (FIG. 6) as shown by the arrow until the pins drop through the opening 56 and Vseat upon the playing surface 5, The actuator plate is released and 'since the narrow upper portions clear the narrow slot portion'64, the spot-ter is lifted off the lpins 37 and the device is ready for play. Y v Q One player rolls the ball 33 from the area Ll onto the alley surface 5. If the ball does not gutter, it will strike the pins.V The fallen pins are gathered by the player who acts as pin boy, byV reachingV under the backboard 15 and raking them into the tray 35.

Theball 33 is returned to the player on the ball return track generally designated 86 which comprises a groove formed in the upper edge of a side member extensions ll3, ,and contiguous side walls M. The ball is rolled inV groove section 87 in member 13 and proceeds down the ramp 83, on the forward edges of extensions i?) and, along theV groove sections 89 on wall 14 and up the ramp 9ll'onl extension 91 of wall 14 and onto a slightly inclined groove portion 92 on the upper edge of portion 91 which is located along the player area. Play is followed as in lregulation bowling. The pins are reset as hereinbefore explained and the scoring proceeds as in regular bowling.

Description 0f FIGURE 7 The structure of `FIGURE 7 is comparable to that shown in the previous embodiment and like parts are identified by Ycorresponding numerals. In the present modification, the plate 66is guided diagonally upwardly t and forwardly in diagonal upwardly and Vforwardly sloping transverse slots VvMtl, 101 in the side members 47, 47 by means of pins or guides MP2 and 103 which extend laterally outwardly of the sides of the plate 66 into respective slots and guided between the margins thereof. This construction obviates the necessity for great accuracy in mating the plate 66 and body d8 and eliminates the springs and by pulling forwardly on the plate 66 it is caused to move upwardly which tends to aid in tipping the pins from their reclined positions-to upright position. Gravity brings the plate 66 down.

The foregoing description is intended to disclose preferred embodiments of the invention and is not in any way intended as a limitation and it will be readily understood that other forms of the invention will become readily apparent to those skilled iny the artwithin the scope of the appended'claims.

and sloping downwardly into the upper end thereof, said f' upper member having'a rarnpsurface within the rear end of each aperture sloping downwardly forwardly toward the associated cylindrical opening and having substantially vertical laten-a1 edges with forward ends curving into a semicylindrical notch, said notch dening the narrow front portion of the apertures, and pins disposed in reclining position preparatory to spotting, each pin comprising a fusiform shaped body having a lower end base, a downwardly tapered lower end portion projecting into the upper end of the associated cylindrical opening, a cylindrical intermediate portion of a diameter closely approximating that of the cylindrical openings in the lower member confined in the reclining position between said lateral edges of the respective aperture and seated upon the respective ramp face, the body of each pin having an upper upwardly tapered portion abutting in the reclining position of the pin against the associated ramp surface, each ramp surface attendant to movement of the upper member toward said forward end of the device moving the related pin forwardly and through engagement of the lower end of the body of the pin with the surface of the cylindrical opening tipping the pin from reclining to upright position coincidental with said lower tapered portion guiding the pin into the associated cylindrical opening in the lower member to enter the cylindrical portion of the pin therein, each pin having a cylindrical stem projecting upwardly from the body, said stem complementally iitting into the semicylindrical notch in the associated aperture, portions of said upper member at opposite sides of each notch overlapping the body of the pin therebelow upon the latter being vertically positioned to prevent its withdrawal and said cylindrcal stern being of substantially uniform section throughout its length and having a nonbulbous upper end to permit withdrawal of the pin spotter upwardly from the pins While holding the pins in upright position.

2. The invention according to claim 1 and said members relatively movable in a direction transaxially of the openings in the lower member, and spring means reactively engaged with said members biasing them to a position offsetting said openings with respect to said apertures wherein the semicylindrical notches of the apertures are vertically Ialigned with the respective openings.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,041,055 10/12 Farrow 273-46 1,137,635 4/ 15 Kempien 273-46 1,162,923 12/15 Hobbs 273-42 1,217,235 2/ 17 States et al. 273-42 1,230,898 6/ 17 Heinemann 273-42 1,625,980 4/27 Brinkman.

1,852,870 4/32 Williams 273-42 1,913,673 6/33 Igou 273-42 2,554,942 5/51 Dobrowsky 273-155 2,626,154 1/53 Lowry 273-46 2,627,408 2/53 Beranek 273-42 2,645,485 7/53 Mead 273-42 2,668,712 2/54 Kling 273-46 X 2,697,606 12/54 McDonald 273-53 2,724,593 11/55 Sherman 273-53 2,728,575 12/55 Cross 273-42 2,762,281 9/56 Kleinstra 95-89 DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION A PIN SPOTTER HAVING FRONT AND REAR ENDS COMPRISING UPPER AND LOWER GENERALLY HORIZONTAL RELATIVELY MOVABLE PLATE-LIKE MEMBERS, SAID LOWER MEMBER HAVING A PLURALITY OF CYLINDRICAL OPENINGS ARRANGED IN A CONVENTIONAL BOWLING FORMATION, SAID UPPER MEMBER HAVING SIMILARLY ARRANGED ELONGATED APERTURES, EACH APERTURE HAVING A WIDE REAR PORTION AND A NARROW FRONT PORTION IN VERTICAL ALIGNMENT WITH THE RESPECTIVE OPENING IN THE LOWER MEMBER, SAID LOWER MEMBER HAVING AN UPPER SIDE WITH A RAMP FACE BEHIND EACH CYLINDRICAL OPENING AND SLOPING DOWNWARDLY INTO THE UPPER END THEREOF, SAID UPPER MEMBER HAVING A RAMP SURFACE WITHIN THE REAR END OF EACH APERTURE SLOPING DOWNWARDLY FORWARDLY TOWARD THE ASSOCIATED CYLINDRICAL OPENING AND HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL LATERAL EDGES WITH FORWARD ENDS CURVING INTO A SEMICYLINDRICAL NOTCH, SAID NOTCH DEFINING THE NARROW FRONT PORTION OF THE APERTURES, AND PINS DISPOSED IN RECLINING POSITION PREPARATORY TO SPOTTING, EACH PIN COMPRISING A FUSIFORM SHAPED BODY HAVING A LOWER END BASE, A DOWNWARDLY TAPERED LOWER END PORTION PROJECTING INTO THE UPPER END OF THE ASSOCIATED CYLINDRICAL OPENING, A CYLINDRICAL INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF A DIAMETER CLOSELY APPROXIMATING THAT OF THE CYLINDRICAL OPENINGS IN THE LOWER MEMBER CONFINED IN THE RECLINING POSITION BETWEEN SAID LATERAL EDGES OF THE RESPECTIVE APERTURE AND SEATED UPON THE RESPECTIVE RAMP FACE, THE BODY OF EACH PIN HAVING AN UPPER UPWARDLY TAPERED PORTION ABUTTING IN THE RECLINING POSITION OF THE PIN AGAINST THE ASSOCIATED RAMP SURFACE, EACH RAMP SURFACE ATTENDANT TO MOVEMENT OF THE UPPER MEMBER TOWARD SAID FORWARD END OF THE DEVICE MOVING THE RELATED PIN FORWARDLY AND THROUGH ENGAGEMENT OF THE LOWER END OF THE BODY OF THE PIN WITH THE SURFACE OF THE CYLINDRICAL OPENING TIPPING THE PIN FROM RECLINING TO UPRIGHT POSITION COINCIDENTAL WITH SAID LOWER TAPERED PORTION GUIDING THE INTO THE ASSOCIATED CYLINDRICAL OPENING IN THE LOWER MEMBER TO ENTER CYLINDRICAL PORTION OF THE PIN THEREIN, EACH PIN HAVING A CYLINDRICAL STEM PROJECTION UPWARDLY FROM THE BODY, SAID STEM COMPLEMENTALLY FITTING INTO THE SEMICYLINDRIAL NOTCH IN THE ASSOCIATED APERTURE, PORTIONS OF SAID UPPER MEMBER AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF EACH NOTCH OVERLAPPING THE BODY OF THE PIN THEREBELOW UPON THELATTER BEING VERTICAL LY POSITIONED TO PREVENT ITS WITHDRAWAL AND SAID CYLINDRICAL STEM BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM SECTION THROUGHOUT ITS LENGHT AND HAVING A NONBULBOUS UPPER END TO PERMIT WITHDRAWAL OF THE PIN SPOTTER UPWARDLY FROM THE PINS WHILE HOLDING THE PINS IN POSITION. 